why is this brand new powerbook useless?

jamief · Post by **jamief** » Mon Feb 21, 2005 6:23 pm

AdamJay wrote:good news folks

ITS FIXED.
so with that in mind, be careful transfering files between pc and mac if using a 3rd HD to do it.

i will

peterb · Post by **peterb** » Mon Feb 21, 2005 6:37 pm

Well adam. Is´nt it the greatest feeling? It all works out again. Interesting to read all about the problem you have expirienced, i learned a coupple of tricks:-) but some i do not understand:. exscuse me for beeing so stupid, but what is an optimalisation prosess? And how do I perform one? With which tools?

please tell me:-)

AdamJay · Post by **AdamJay** » Mon Feb 21, 2005 6:53 pm

well i think there are a few simple things you can do that can be called an optimization process.

first, the pram zapp as mentioned by muthafunka earlier in this thread. although that didn't FIX my problem, it did seem to make the problem less apparent.

run Shadow Killer (search it at macupdate.com), its free and removes shadows from the windows in OSX. put it in your startup items in System Prefs / Accounts.

more optimization tips at:
http://emusician.com/mag/emusic_tracking_big_cats/

and more involved tips at:
http://www.ableton.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=13963

borg · Post by **borg** » Mon Feb 21, 2005 7:28 pm

good for you!!!

and probably for me too!

tomorrow i'll be buying a new PB and need to transfer lots of Live sets & audio, or rather, need to have the powerbook recognize a FWHD (fat32) i have been using with this XP machine i just sold. i have been reassured however buy other Live users this will not be a problem, hehe... i'll burn everything to DVD just to be sure.

and, happy with how it performs???

AdamJay · Post by **AdamJay** » Mon Feb 21, 2005 7:37 pm

yea i am. my live set is pretty simple. 8 stereo channels, 8 AU Hipass, 8 AU Lowpass, 8 Supatriggas, and an EQ4 on the main channel. runs at 25%.

Zky · Post by **Zky** » Mon Feb 21, 2005 9:00 pm

right on!

good to know that about the hd,,as I use one for transfer files between the pc-mac

jtenney · Post by **jtenney** » Mon Feb 21, 2005 9:15 pm

Jeez, Adam, I wish my setup was so simple...

The set I'm working on is 28 tracks, I've got 360 files (including .asds) in my self-contained folder, I'm running 2 different reverbs for different sounds, eqs, a multi delay, a Supatrigger, I've got 50 key assignments (caps and lower case both) and 2/3 of the controls on my UC33e are assigned.

And I wonder why I get dropouts sometimes... Only have 512mb ram (it's a desktop, I don't have the bux for a laptop), I close all apps but email when I'm working, turn off reverbs when not using them, and still get glitches.

BTW, I looked for the Shadow Killer and got a 404. Looks like Unsanity is no longer supporting it. Is there anything else equivalent that you know of?

cheers and later,
John

peterb · Post by **peterb** » Mon Feb 21, 2005 9:31 pm

Thanks a lot Adam:-)
will check it out and do adjustments.. Optimalisation is after all a pretty important case when it comes to live-sets on laptops i think..
Cheers
peterb.

AdamJay · Post by **AdamJay** » Mon Feb 21, 2005 10:30 pm

jtenney,

unsanity still has shadow killer, you just have to look kinda hard to find it.
anyways, here's a direct link:
http://www.unsanity.net/shadowkiller-12.sit

jtenney · Post by **jtenney** » Mon Feb 21, 2005 11:34 pm

Thanks a lot, Adam, I got it and I'll see if it helps!

later,
John

AdamJay · Post by **AdamJay** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 12:44 am

hey guys another update.
a couple of the files in my set were still a little corrupt and causing the set to glitch occasionally (though much much less frequent than when all the files were corrupt). I've imported them all into itunes and re-encoded with the .wav encoder (and the few .aif's in the set with the .aif encoder), and made a clone of the set. This seems to have fixed it all entirely.

So for all you guys going from a PC to one of the new PB's, if you experience any wierdness, try re-encoding your files ON the mac and go from there. It seems to have tied up the last few loose ends for me.

Also, make sure to see what Commuter said on page 2 of this thread regarding the new "sudden motion sensor technology" on the HD's of the new powerbooks. i can't say if turning it off has affected my performance or not, as that was lumped in with all the other troubleshooting/optimizing i was doing. But i'm gonna play it safe and keep it off. i like to embrace new technology, but with new technology comes new problems and if so many powerbooks without sudden motion sensor are running fine, then i'll leave it off on mine.

see how to turn it off at http://docs.info.apple.com/article.html?artnum=300724

now who wants to buy an HP?

Machinesworking · Post by **Machinesworking** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 2:05 am

Let me know how it goes now that you have a stable powerbook Adam, man it's amazing how weird little problems will screw it all up sometimes huh?

Currently I run a dual gig G4 tower and a 800mhz. powerbook. The new powerbooks run Live at twice the speed. I'm seriously thinking that if I sold both, I would be able to pretty much get a new machine for nothing. Live would kill on it compared to the 800, and Logic would run at nearly the same speed on the powerbook as on the dual...... plus it would have a better latency than the 800, considering I run an old moog, my guitar, and my vocalist through Live, it would be wise to do. Ebay is such a crap shoot though.

AdamJay · Post by **AdamJay** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 3:19 am

which PB are you considering getting?

MarkH · Post by **MarkH** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 3:33 am

AdamJay wrote:which PB are you considering getting?

_________________
HP Athlon 64 3700+ Notebook. 1.5 GB Ram, 80 GB 5400 rpm

Dude, like change your signature already!

Regards,
Mark

Machinesworking · Post by **Machinesworking** » Tue Feb 22, 2005 4:08 am

AdamJay wrote:which PB are you considering getting?

Dunno yet? I don't think it would be worth the trouble without getting at least the 1.5 though? the powerbook scores 82% on your Live 4 test, so something like what you got would almost double Live's usefulness to me. I'm pretty broke, so I would have to afford whatever I could after selling the 800mhz and Dual gig.

Also I'm curious as to what you'll think of Digital Performer? and what exactly you'll be doing with it?
I used DP for years and switched to logic because of a few small bugs that drove me batty about four years ago in OS9 days. DP is much better suited as an audio file rendering DAW for Live than Logic is. You can print soft synths to an audio track without the hassle that Logic makes it, destructively print FX to audio, and the sample editor is better than Logic's. I liked the quantize in DP better as well, input quantize in DP is a different animal than other DAWs, very unique. Vocator still does not work in DP though, but I'll be using it in Live anyway so.....
logic beats everything on a mac for soft synth track count though, something like 20% more efficient than DP in that category. I hardly ever max out Logic though, so I'm thinking of upgrading my license to DP for all of the above reasons. Logic used to be the most stable DAW, but personally I think Apple might just not care that it's not as stable as SX or DP right now? it's an odd thing, but they are a big company, and big companies make stupid decisions all the time.

why is this brand new powerbook useless?

Great:-)

Thanx